Monday, May 15, 2006

My BAFTAs

This year's BAFTA's took place last week, and in truth, I was pretty much dismayed at their boring, narrow-minded choices. Of course, British television is hardly at its peak at the moment, but nevertheless, there certainly is much more to reward than you'd think there was judging by the decisions of the British Academy. As if the Keira snub didn't piss me off enough.

So in a rather infuriated fashion, I reacted by compiling my own awards for the last year of television. To be honest I can't help myself. I've included all television shows broadcast on British screens, not just the home-grown stuff. Here are my choices:

TV Series – Drama

Bad GirlsCoronation StreetEastenders

ERLost

Eastenders is really a filler. It has and will see much better era's. ER continues to be as exhilarating as Coronation Street is enlightening. The seemingly never-ending Lost may tease to the point of torture, but is just so god damn addictive. But it's Bad Girls, even despite not being the best series of its run, that was really the highlight of the year for me. Think an hour of Cell Block Tango every week. Bliss.

While Little Britain continues to entertain with its funny sketches, Catherine Tate mesmerises even more with her stark-raving hilarious one-woman assault. Ricky Gervais was busy proving that The Office was not a one-off success and that he is in fact a genius. Still, comic genius was also evident in the massive worldwide success, Desperate Housewives, which, while a lovely little satire, really coasts on the performances of its four main stars. However, no programme this year made me laugh more than the perfectly named 'Shameless', which satirises an entirely different type of desperation.

My two favourite performances in this line-up are villains, oddly enough. Bill Ward's psychological ego-driven Charlie, who continues to manipulate, yet find a way to be so dangerously attractive (tell me I'm not the only one that feels this way) and Jack Ellis' detestable creation Jim Fenner, whose plain evil drives me to pure hatred. None moreso than in his final series. Yes people, he's gone. May the bastard rot in hell. Quite a dishy category generally, excluding my winner of course :P

What a bloody brilliant category. It was at this point that I really discovered I LOVE television. Brent, Ford, and Lucker are complete bitches, but all in fairly different ways. They all implant their own ways of making you hate them in any case. Tierney is my favourite part of ER, and I'm including the entire length of its run here. She makes her character so much more human and relatable than any other in the programme. It's surprising then that I find myself falling for Lacey Turner's strong, feisty tearaway Stacey Slater. She is solely responsible for reviving the programme through her 'Slater' appeal. The show revolves around that family, and her grounded recognisable presence is indicative of what Eastenders is supposed to be about. Brilliant.

David Threlfall, playing a character essentially used as a figure of fun, steals the show in Shameless, despite sometimes not appearing for a single episode. Latham really steers the show with his stupidly brilliant naivety, his coming-of-age through the series' near completion. The team of Lucas and Wailliams each contribute something different to Little Britain, remaining fairly equally hilarious. Gervais improvises much of his six episodes, even though he's often outshone.

Brilliant, brilliant category. Catherine Tate wades through her sketches with an inspired familiarity, bringing to life characters that are felt and acknowledged in a way that many other comedians haven't. Jensen really steals the Extra's show, ad-libbing with a freshness that defines British humour. The housewives (sans Terri, who I sadly had to leave out) really flesh out quite archetypal roles. None moreso than the house-proud Bree Van De Camp, played by Marcia Cross. Cross has a gift of conveying dismay, anguish, satisfaction through her essentially porcelain complexion.

Supporting Actor – TV Series

James Alexandrou - Eastenders

Mekhi Phifer - ER

Doug Savant – Desperate HousewivesJohn Savident – Coronation Street

Shane West - ER

West and Phifer, while their characters remain a little too familiar, give them an added punch. Huffman overshadows Savant but don't be fooled - he plays his part very well. Alexandrou is close to perfect as the strong, stubborn young husband in Eastenders, and Savident is utterly hilarious is Coronation Street, and when called upon for dramatic acting gladly turns it up a notch.

Supporting Actress – TV Series

Kacey Ainsworth - Eastenders

June Brown - Eastenders

Linda Cardellini - ERMaggie O’Neill – Shameless

Wendi Peters - Coronation Street

Wendi Peters' Cilla is one of the brightest spots of the Street. Peters has that common as muck attitude that many working class women have. Ainsworth, whose character has been victimised throughout her stay, deserves credit, in the sense that you never doubt her spiralling plight for a second. Brown is an icon that continues to be the programme's MVP. Cardellini is convincing as a young mother. Yet, O'Neill's mentally trodden Sheila, in Shameless, is the character I find I warm to most, even though it's perhaps the last acknowldgeable of the five. O'Neill's timid, mousy exterior is laugh-out-loud funny throughout, giving Shameless another asset. Frank and Sheila forever.

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We actors don't get a lot of Isobella Lawrence till we get "really" famous - but we live and breathe our Isobella Lawrence regardless. Isobella LawrenceIsobellahttp://www.isobella-lawrence.comLike your blog :o)

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A long entry by Anne Frank on April 5, 1944, written after more than a year and a half of hiding from the Nazis[url="http://phenne.blogspot.com"],[/url] describes the range of emotions 14-year-old Anne is experiencing:

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"When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that's a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer? I hope so, oh, I hope so very much, because writing allows me to record everything, all my thoughts, ideals and fantasies.

"I haven't worked on Cady's Life for ages. In my mind I've worked out exactly what happens next, but the story doesn't seem to be coming along very well. I might never finish it, and it'll wind up in the wastepaper basket or the stove. That's a horrible thought, but then I say to myself, "At the age of 14 and with so little experience, you can't write about philosophy.' So onward and upward, with renewed spirits. It'll all work out, because I'm determined to write! Yours, Anne M. Frank

For those of you interested in reading some of Anne Frank's first stories and essays, including a version of Cady's Life, see Tales From the Secret Annex (Doubleday, 1996). Next: Reviewing and revising your writing